NEGOTIATING FUTURES IN RURAL SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS: THE CASE OF SANT’ERASMO IN THE VENICE LAGOON

Federico Tonegatti; Valentino Marini Govigli

Todos os Trabalhos

Trabalho

DOI

10.29327/9786527226680.1438119

Título do Trabalho

NEGOTIATING FUTURES IN RURAL SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS: THE CASE OF SANT’ERASMO IN THE VENICE LAGOON

Autores

Federico Tonegatti
Valentino Marini Govigli

Modalidade

IRSA - Congresso Mundial de Sociologia Rural (01/10/2025 a 20/01/2026)

Área temática

IRSA 18 - Rural Futures: Exploring the Socio-Economic and Political Transformation of Rural-Urban Nexus

Data de Publicação

06/08/2026

País da Publicação

Brasil

Idioma da Publicação

pt-BR

Página do Trabalho

https://www.even3.com.br/anais/sober-irsa2026/1438119-negotiating-futures-in-rural-socio-ecological-systems--the-case-of-santerasmo-in-the-venice-lagoon

ISBN

978-65-272-2668-0

Palavras-Chave

Disputes, Land-use dynamics, Public land, Privatisation, Governance

Resumo

The Venice Lagoon, Italy, is marked by socio-environmental conflicts over the privatisation of common goods. Sant’Erasmo, the historical food production hub of Venice, epitomizes these tensions. Disputes over the island’s future have emerged among local committees, farmers, public institutions, and private actors, reflecting broader struggles over how rural and peri-urban territories are imagined, managed, and transformed. Preliminary findings from our fieldwork highlight the emergence of multiple pathways for Sant’Erasmo. While farmers advocate the preservation of conventional agricultural production as a means of safeguarding cultural identity and food sovereignty, local committees emphasise the role of agroecology to promote sustainable practices and community-based governance. Private enterprises advance trajectories oriented toward mainstream tourism or new income sources with potential environmental impacts, such as agrivoltaics. These divergent visions illustrate how conflicts over commons are profoundly influenced by competing values and power relations. Also, they are influenced by contrasting and sometimes unconventional narratives. While these discourses appear fragmented, they may serve as entry points for dialogue, opening imaginative spaces for innovative futures and, paradoxically, helping to build consensus by making underlying fears and aspirations explicit. To analyse these dynamics, we developed a conceptual framework to unfold conflicts over natural commons, focusing on the interplay between ecological components, governance structures, and economic pressures. From these insights, we aim to engage in future action-research with local stakeholders, not only to document conflicts but also to contribute to their mitigation. By co-producing knowledge with communities and institutions, we seek to identify to the needs emerging from the conflict and fostering dialogue to explore pathways that balance ecological resilience, cultural heritage, and socio-economic viability. Sant’Erasmo thus offers a critical case for rural sociology: it demonstrates how contested visions of development in rural socio-ecological systems can be negotiated through participatory approaches respecting both local livelihoods and environmental concerns.

Título do Evento: 16th World Congress of Rural Sociology and 64th Congress of the Brazilian Society of Rural Economics, Management and Sociology
Cidade do Evento: Porto Alegre
Título dos Anais do Evento: Anais do 64º Congresso da SOBER e XVI Congresso Mundial de Sociologia Rural (IRSA)
Nome da Editora: Even3
Meio de Divulgação: Meio Digital
DOI

Como citar

TONEGATTI, Federico; GOVIGLI, Valentino Marini. NEGOTIATING FUTURES IN RURAL SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS: THE CASE OF SANT’ERASMO IN THE VENICE LAGOON.. In: Anais do 64º Congresso da SOBER e XVI Congresso Mundial de Sociologia Rural (IRSA). Anais...Porto Alegre(RS) UFRGS, 2026. Disponível em: https//www.even3.com.br/anais/sober-irsa2026/1438119-NEGOTIATING-FUTURES-IN-RURAL-SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL-SYSTEMS--THE-CASE-OF-SANTERASMO-IN-THE-VENICE-LAGOON. Acesso em: 31/08/2026